ntire cost being estimated at forty thousand dollars. The visitor, come
from whatever direction he may, has the Temple constantly in view as a
reminder of the quainter style of "meeting-houses" in New England. Its
architectural superiority over the meeting-houses is probably due to the
fact that Smith had a "revelation" which gave him the exact measurements
and proportions. The size upon the ground is eighty feet by sixty, and
the eastern gable runs up into a square tower, surmounted by a domed
belfry, to the height of one hundred and twenty-five feet. Two lofty
stories above a low basement are covered by a shingled roof pierced with
dormer windows. Large Gothic windows of the Henry VIII. shape are filled
with seven-by-nine glass, and afford relief to the solid walls of stone
and stucco that have so well survived the ravages of nearly half a
century, though the iron rust streaking the exterior, the moss-grown
shingles, the wasps' nests under the eaves, and the two immense chimneys
already tottering to their fall, give evidence of approaching ruin.

As much as this even the careless passer-by cannot well avoid seeing.
The more patient and accurate visitor may readily repeat my own
experience as I went in search of the key on a bleak day in December.
"The people ought to fix it up," said one informant: "it is a good thing
for Kirtland;" the force of which remark I did not realize till I called
upon an old Mormon woman who was said to have the keys. Inquiry at her
little cabin resulted in my being directed to "go to Electy Stratton's."
The latter personage, my cicerone, stated that her parents were
Mormons--that her father had spent several hundred dollars in the cause;
and so "it was thought best that their family should have the keys for a
while now." The small fee for visiting the Temple was the "good thing
for Kirtland," and the custody of the keys was not to remain long in one
family. Opening a rickety gate, we entered the churchyard. High aloft,
just under the pediment, I could read this inscription in golden letters
upon a white tablet: "House of the Lord, built by the Church of Christ,
1834." Instead of the words "of Christ" the original inscription read
"of the Latter-Day Saints." The Temple faces the east. Solid green
doors, with oval panels, open into a vestibule extending across the
entire front, and terminating on either hand in a semicircular stairway.
The ceiling is cut away from the front wall to allow a floo